BETHESDA, Md.—The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) has redesigned its Dietary Supplement Analytical Methods and Reference Materials (AMRM) website to improve the user experience, including enhanced search functioning. Users will now be able to search the site by substance, plant, matrix, method and compound, as well as other parameters, to better locate published and available reference materials, methods and resources.
ODS, which was mandated by DSHEA (the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act), created AMRM in 2002 after a series of stakeholder meetings helped address the Congressional mandate to establish a program to support and promote development of analytical methods and reference materials for supplements. ODS continues to use stakeholder meetings to identify AMRM program needs, and it works with government and non-government organizations (NGOs), the supplement industry, non-profit groups and academic institutions to target needs and set priorities.
AMRM, which is funded through interagency agreements between ODS and FDA, USDA and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), has three primary focus areas:
Analytical Methods – Development and validation of analytical methods for use as a GMP (good manufacturing practice) tool to verify dietary ingredient and label content claims. The overall goal is the identification and quantification of adulterants, toxins and pesticides. AOAC coordinates validation activities via a special ODS-funded stakeholder panel.
Reference Materials – Support the development of reference materials for dietary ingredients and supplements, as well as clinical reference materials and calibration standard solutions. NIST leads production of reference materials for AMRM.
Education and Outreach – This effort includes education and training on analytical skills; quality assurance (QA) programs on laboratory proficiency; and sharing information through meeting presentations and journal publications.
To date, AMRM has published 17 single-lab and 16 collaborative validations in peer-reviewed literature, as well as 104 additional program-funded studies, including method development studies. Further, 33 Standard Reference Materials® (SRMs) are now available from NIST, and 44 SRMs are under development. AMRM has funded three NIST lab QA programs, which have drawn participation from more than 100 labs. There are currently 16 AOAC Official Methods of Analysis, and AMRM has funded 19 ingredient-specific AOAC working groups.
For more information, visit the ODS AMRM website.
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